Voddler Launches Subscription Service - Goes Halfway
Voddler, a company sometimes referred to as the Spotify of movies, is beginning to offer a subscription service for 7,9€ a month (or 79 SEK). The advantage for subscribers, or Voddler Plus members as the company refers to the plan, is that for a monthly fee they have part of the Voddler catalogue available to them at no extra cost. You read correctly - part of the catalogue. The downside is that you still will have to pay for some movies. For customers - this isn't as good a deal as it sounds.
What I personally see as a big challenge here is the fact that while it's nice to get a lot more movies with a single monthly subscription fee - it's not something consumers are used to. With a variety of services out there, if you pay a monthly fee - you're usually given the full deal, service, at your use. With Voddler however, you're left guessing which movie you're going to have to pay for in the future. I don't see how this can fly.
There are of course the advantages for the company. They probably get a lot more revenue per month per user, but I don't see them taking advantage of what they could have done - going all the way to opening up the full catalogue. I'm sure they could have charged even 15 to 20 euros a month for this.
Even Anders Sjöman, VP of Corporate Communications, states "Voddler Plus will continue to grow, as much of Voddler as is possible should in the long run be included in a monthly membership". But it's not and that's a problem from the start.
So while it seems like a nice improvement - I don't see this as being a huge victory for the consumer.
Hi Antti,
Thanks for taking the time to reflect and analyze on our launch of Voddler Plus.
Yes, it is a first step and not the final step. The end goal is much closer to what you describe.
However, it is a process. Very much influenced by the "release windows"-structure that govern the film industyr, and which makes it different from the music industry, for instance. I've blogged about it here: http://voddlertalk.voddler.com/2011/the-thing-about-release-windows/
Voddler has always combined two models: some titles are pay-per-view (these are the latest DVD-releases) and the rest, about 80%, are ad-funded (these titles are normally 3 years or older, matching what you see in TV-channels at night).
We're still very rare in this combo: our competitors either choose to be an online "videostore" (iTunes, Amazon) or to be a catalog service (Netflix).
When we designed Voddler Plus, it was with the goal of offering membership benefits for both models. For our ad-funded titles, there are no pre-movie messages. For our rentals, there are heavy discounts and several pay-per-view titles included in the fee at no charge.
Perhaps it is a confusing offer. Your comment that customers are used to getting the "full offer" if they a fee, points to this. And perhaps this is why, again, some of our competitors choose to limit their catalog/models in order to have a simple marketing line.
I do think though, and the customer run on our service we've seen the last days, that Voddler Plus is a good deal. It's a great deal, I'd say. 2,000 titles with Instant Play and 25% disocunts on all other rentals (plus som other membership perks and offers).
A final point: the Voddler Plus-membeship is not a requirement to see movies on Voddler. You can still see all the 2,000 titles, but then with advertising before the movie starts. And you can still pay full rental price if you want. In this way, we're trying to offer something for all budgets, all interests.
Best regards,
Anders Sjöman
Head of Communication, Voddler
anders.sjoman@voddler.com
Thanks Anders, appreciate the comment!
I think the advantages of the membership could be highlighted little more clearly and give some indications on how consumers will have to pay for upcoming releases for example. The more questions regarding the future you're able to remove with your marketing - the closer you are to customers paying for your service.
But glad to see things aren't stopping here. The best of luck!